CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to increase its prosecutions and penalties in fatal fentanyl drug cases in the United States and West Virginia.
Under federal law, distributors and drug dealers from fentanyl cases causing death are required to be sentenced to at least 20 years in prison and can receive up to a life sentence. A review of sentencing data for fiscal year 2019 by the U.S. Sentencing Commission showed only 54 fentanyl dealers and 19 fentanyl analogue dealers were given the mandatory 20-year prison sentence for fentanyl drug deals causing death.
“The U.S. Justice Department and federal prosecutors must carry out their responsibilities to safeguard the American people and those in West Virginia from this scourge of fentanyl,” Morrisey said in a press release. “Federal prosecutors must respond to this unprecedented threat of fentanyl across the board. There can be no question of resources, only priorities and the will to prosecute criminals to the maximum penalties set by law.”
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland
In fiscal year 2019, there were nearly 20,000 illegal drug trafficking convictions, including just 1,119 fentanyl and fentanyl analogue offenders who were sentenced. With fentanyl cases one of the greatest illegal drug threats in America and West Virginia, Morrisey is asking why fentanyl cases are such a small portion of federal drug trafficking cases that are prosecuted in federal courts.
In his letter to Garland, Morrisey said federal prosecutors are not bringing enough cases pursuant to this federal statute.
Morrisey said West Virginia is one of the hardest hit states in terms of fentanyl death cases. In addition, Morrisey said the thousands of Americans who lose their lives to illegal fentanyl drug use every year is a dramatic and unwarranted disparity to the actual illegal drug cases that are prosecuted in federal courts in the United States.
"Congress has enacted laws to ensure maximum deterrence against dealers of death, including those who push fentanyl," Morrisey wrote. "This is why, today, I call upon you to reevaluate your enforcement philosophy to provide for greater focus on fentanyl prosecutions.
"I urge you to take every practical step to deter offenders and provide for the maximum penalties for fentanyl crimes under federal law."
